Canada: Tablet ownership tripled in a year

A Media Technology Monitor report indicated tablet computer use by Canadians almost tripled during 2011 and promises to keep rising through 2012, 680 News reported.

According to 680 News, ownership of tablet computers by English-speaking Canadians had reached about 11 percent by last fall, compared to four percent in 2010, based upon Media Technology Monitor surveys of 4,000 English-speaking and 4,000 French-speaking Canadians.

Among French-speaking Canadians, tablet use reached six percent last fall, up from two percent in 2010, and MTM predicted 17 percent of all Canadians will own tablets by the end of 2012 -- mostly Apple iPads if the current trend continues -- compared to 10 percent in 2011, but few Canadians watch TV on their tablet computers, or watch TV online at all, 680 News reported.

Tablet ownership has increased in the United States also: A study of several Pew surveys conducted late 2011 through early 2012 found tablet purchases, including e-readers such as Nooks and Kindles, surged throughout the United States during the 2011-2012 holiday shopping season, Reuters reported.

In the United Kingdom, research by comScore in 2011 suggested higher morning and evening use of tablet computers and smartphones, before and after personal computer use (perhaps over breakfast and before bedtime), was growing steadily into a significant share of the browsing market, The Guardian reported.